We Like Bugs, and Here’s Why

The polyphemus moth is a giant silk moth native to our region, with a wingspan of up to 6 inches.

Teachers of landscaping and plant ID classes can still be heard saying something like “This is a great plant to use—it’s completely pest-free!” The assumption is that insects are pests, that we do not want them in our landscapes. But this is the language and thinking of yesteryear, of a culture that took to extremes the manicured landscape aesthetic that post-WWII suburbia borrowed from late 19th-century robber barons who borrowed it from English lords…it is a culture that views nature as a thing to be dominated, and it requires constant mowing and clipping and chemical applications, until our neighborhoods look the same year round and ring with the abrasive sounds of these activities to the exclusion of what might be the sound of birds singing, or even a breeze in the trees. Bugs of all sorts are not to be tolerated; we must not allow the leaves of our plants to be consumed. Yet, for eons, countless creatures that are part of the complex web of life on earth have counted on leaves for their survival.

The thing about bugs is: even if you don’t enjoy them for their own charms, or because they evolved with us and each species is unique, we need them! They pollinate our food crops; they are first responders in dispatching with dead things; they provide the protein that allows our favorite animals, songbirds, to raise their broods. Some are considered lovely and charismatic in their own right, like butterflies and dragonflies. In some countries, insects provide a key source of protein for humans. Even here, a few adventurous foodies have begun trying them out.

Of course, bugs can be pests, bugs can be damaging; but few native insects are, because they depend on a healthy ecosystem for their own survival. It tends to be the exotic bugs, with no natural enemies in their adopted environment, that cause trouble, or our own agricultural practices, such as monocropping, or planting acres and acres of a single crop.

The Chicago region is blessed with a rich and diverse natural heritage. Planting natives in our yards helps preserve what remains of that heritage. Allowing insects to have their share of the native plants upon which they rely rather than running for the sprayer is an act of generosity and kindness to fellow beings that helps heal the landscape and build healthy wildlife habitat. These creatures provide protein for the birds that eat them, and the birds keep the number of insects in check.

Without this crawly phase, during which the polyphemus caterpillar nibbles on a wide variety of native trees and shrubs, we would have no gorgeous moth.